Automatic centrifugal machine.



F. VILLARREAL.

AUTOMATIC CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED OCT. l. 1914.

1,187,205. Patented June 13, 1916.

ISHEETS-SHEET I.

m I c 96 w L- g 7a 9 Vii/A Z, n-vcnfoz fie/fno i/larweal wen-mo I x GE; 5? 25M w F. VILLARREAL. AUTOMATIC CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-1, I914.

Patented June 13, 1916.

7 SHEETSSHEET 4 jvvuc'nfoi 4 Eli/20 M'liawwkal k v xv. Q o o o o o q o o 0 *1 R o o o 030 w o 0 K w o n\@ o o v& 3 0 mom w 000 0 1 Q IEHI mm m F. VILLARREAL.

AUTOMATIC CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED OCT-1.1914.

1 ,1 87,205 Patented June 13, 1916.

7 SHEETSSHEET 5.

F. VILLARREAL.

AUTOMATIC CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE.- APPLICATION FILED on. 1. 1914.

1 1 87,205 Patented June 13, 1916.

I SHEETS-SHEET I- 5/1720 l/z'ifaw/w'z M .r W

#13 info: we 1 FELINO VILLARREAL, OF CRUCES, CUBA.

AUTOMATIC CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented June 13, 1916.

Application filed October 1, 1914. Serial No. 864,519.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LFELINo VILLARREAL, a citizen of the Republic of Cuba, residing at Cruces, Cuba, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Centrifugal Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to sugar drying machines and has for its object the production of an efiicient centrifugal machine, whereby the sugar may be forced therethrough for the purpose of efliciently drying the same and separating the liquid or syrup there from.

Another object of this invention is the production of a simple and efficient means, whereby the sugar may be fed into the centrifugal portion of the machine, and at the same time compressed in order to force the liquid from the sugar and permit the sugar to be efficiently dried.

Other objects andadvantages of the present invention will appear throughout the following specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3, of Fig. 2. Fig. ft is a longitudinal sectional view through the outer casing of the machine showing the manner in which the inner drum is supported. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view through a portion of the central feeding shaft showing the inner drum and outer casing in section. Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 66, of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view through the supporting frame of the machine. Fig. 8 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view through a portion of the central rotating drum. Fig. 9 is an enlarged sectional view through the clutch device for driving the main driving shaft. Fig. 10 is a section taken on line 10-10, of Fig. 5. Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken on line 1111, of Fig. 1. Fig. 12 is a longitudinal sectional view through a portion of the outer casing showing the driving gears coiiperating therewith for moving the outer casing longitudinal of the machine. Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a portion of the outer end of the driving shaft. Fig. 1-1 is a longitudinal'section through the drag mechanism for moving the inner drum longitudinally of the shaft. Fig. 15 is a front elevation of the clamping ring adapted to engage the drag rods. Fig. 16 is an edge view of the structure shown in Fig. 15. Fig.

17 is a perspective view of one of the sections of the clamping rings, illustrated in Fig. 15. Fig. 18 is an enlarged transverse sectional view through one of the joints between the sections which make up the inner drum. Fig. 19 is a longitudinal section of a portion of the inner end of the'main driv- 1ng shaft showing the manner in which the same is journaled upon the feed pipe. Fig. 29 1s a transverse section through the feed pipe showing the ball-bearing race formed upon the flange carried thereby. Fig. 21 is a rear view of the threaded cap adapted to fit over the feeding pipe showing the ballbearing race formed therein. Fig. 22 is a side elevation of the clutch mechanism adapted to lock the driving pulley upon the counter shaft in engagement with the countershaft, the operating lever being shown in section. Fig 23 is a section taken on line A-A, of Fig. 22. .Fig. 24 is a section taken on line BB, of Fig. 22. Fig. 25 is a detail perspective of one of the clips adapted to engage the links used in connection with the clutch mechanism illustrated in Fig. 22. Fig. 26 is a perspective view of one of the journal pins used in connection with the structure illustrated in Fig. 22 for connecting the links to the clutch pulley. Fig. 27 is a section taken on line C-C, of Fig. 1. Fig. 28 is a section taken on line X-X, of Fig. 5. Fig. 29 is a section taken on line Y-Y, of Fig. 28. Fig. 30 is a transverse section taken on line Z-Z, of Fig. 1, showing the manner in which the outer casing is clamped in engagement with the supporting frame. Fig. 31 is aperspective view of one of the bracing rings carried by the inner drum which is adapted to assist in holding the several sections of the inner drum in an assembled position. Fig. 32 is a detail perspective of one of the clamping shoes carried within the main driving pulley. Fig. 33 is a perspective view of the drum and outer casin in a position for discharging sugar there min, the outer casing being shown in section.

By ings it will be seen that 1 main frame which is supported upon a designates the plureferring to the accompanying drawrality of standards or legs '2 which may be madeof any desired or suitable construction. The frame 1 carries a journal 3 near one end thereof, and a journal 4 near the other end thereof upon which the main supporting shaft 5 is journaled. The main supporting shaft 5 carries a. driving pulley 6 over which a driving belt 7 passes. The belt 7 also passes over a pulley 8 carried by the countershaft 9, which countershaft is supported upon the frame 1. The bearing 3 as well as the bearing 4 is made of two sections as is usual with such bearings and is provided with a bearing ring 10 having ball-bearings 11 formed therein. Suitable apertures 12 are formed in the bearing for the purpose of facilitating the lubrication thereof. A bracket 13 is supported upon the frame 1 and carries a threaded pin 14, which threaded pin is adapted to engage the outer end of the shaft 5 and hold the shaft against longitudinal movement upon the frame 1. It should be understood that by the adjustment of this pin 14, the shaft 5 may at all times be held at a proper tension and against any longitudinal movement upon the frame.

A supporting bracket 15 is carried by the main frame 1. and the main shaft 5 passes through this bracket as illustrated clearly in Fig. 28. A lever 16 is loosely mounted upon the shaft 5. and this lever is provided with the laterally extending handle 17 to facilitate the operation thereof, and is also provided with .a plurality of arc-shaped slots 18 formed on a tangent to the circumference of the lever 16. The lever 16 is also provided with a. plurality of guide slots 19 in which the bolts 20 work. Bolts 21 pass through the arc slots 18 and 'carry clamping shoes 22 at their inner ends. which clamping shoes work in the pocket 23 formed upon the outer face of the pulley 6. It will be seen that as the lever 17, is rotated upon the shaft 5 in one direction, the shoes 22 will be thrown into engagement with the inner face of the pulley 6. and in this manner constitute a frictional brake for retarding the rotary movement of the shaft 5 after the power has been cut off. It should be understood that the countershaft 9 is provided with the usual drive pulley 24 which may receive its power from any suitable source of supply. It should be understood that the pulley 6 is driven direct from the pulley 8 through the means of the belt 7. I

By carefully considering Figs. 5 and 19 it will be seen that the main driving shaft 5 is provided with a threaded end 25 over which fits a threaded cap 26. The feed pipe 27 fits into'the inner end of the main driving shaft 5 and is provided with a flange 28 having a race 29 formed upon the inner face thereof. The cap 26 is also provided with the race 30 which is adapted to register with the race 29. and receive the ballbearings 31 as is clearly illustrated in Fig.

19. thereby permitting the shaft 5 to rotate with a minimum amount of friction.

The countershaft 9 as stated above can ries the driving pulley 8,-and this driving pulley carries a hub plate 32 which is loosely mounted upon the shaft 9. The hub plate 32 is provided With a plurality of rotatably mounted caps 33 to which are secured the twisted links 34 which links are in turn connected to the clutch ring 35 which is carried by the shaft 9. The fingers 36 of the operating lever 37 work in a 'groove'formed in the ring 35 as illustrated in Fig. 24, and it will be seen that as the ring 35 is reciproc-ated upon the shaft 9. the hub plate 32 will be rotated. A plurality of longitudinal slotted arms 37 are carried by the shaft 9, and pins 38 work in the slotted arms 37 and also work in the are grooves 39, which are grooves extend at a tangent to the periphery of the hub plate. These pins '38 carry shoes 39 upon their inner ends. and these shoes work within the hub 40 of the pulley 8, and are adapted to be thrown into engagement with the inner face of the hub 40 for locking the hub 40 in engagement with the hub plate 32, and in this manner lock the pulley 8 in engagement with the countershaft 9 and permit the belt 7 to be operated. The lever 37 is pivotally mounted upon the frame as indicated at 41 and extends transversely across the frame to a convenient point to be engaged by the operator of the machine.

T he countershaft 9 also carries a pulley 42 over which passes a belt 43, and this belt 43passes over a pulley 44 carried by an auxiliary drive shaft 45 extending transversely across the frame 1. The drive shaft 45 carries a'pulley 46 and a pulley 47. A. twisted belt 48 passes around the pulley 46 and also passes over a pulley 49 carried by the stub shaft 50. A pulley 51 is also carried by the shaft 50, and a straight belt 52 passes over the pulley 51 and over the pulley 47. A clutch device 53 is carried by the shaft and is adapted to be operated by means of a lever 54 for the purpose of throwing the pulleys49 and 51 into alternate engagement with the clutch and control the direction of travel of the shaft 50.

A plurality of longitudinally extending beams 55 are supported upon the frame 1, and these beams carry clamping plates 56 for engaging the longitudinally extending shoes 57 carried by the outer casing 58 of the sugar drying device as illustrated in Fig. 3 and also in detail in 'Fig. 30 for the purpose of holding the outer casing 58 upon the frame 1. The outer casing 58 comprises a drum-like casing formed of metal or other suitable material and has its outer gether.

- through which they end reinforced by means of a circular ring 59 and the inner end closed by means of a face plate 60. This outer casing 58 is provided with a plurality of discharge apertures 61 which communicate with a discharge pipe 62 for the purpose of conveying liquid or syrup from the casing as will be hereinafter more fully described. A rack bar 63 is formed upon the lower face of the outer casing 58 and is engagedby means of a rack pinion 64 mounted upon the transversely extending shaft 65. This inion 64 as stated above is mounted upon the shaft 65, and the shaft 65 carries a pinion 66 which meshes with a pinion 67 carried by the shaft as is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 7. A chute or trough 68 is employed or supported upon the frame 1 adjacent the discharge end of the pipe 62 to receive the liquid as the same is discharged therefrom.

A lurality of spacing blocks 69 are slidably clamped around the shaft 5 as illustrated clearly in Fig. 27, and'ethese filler blocks 69 are secured to the projecting fingers 70 carried by the face plate of the outer casing 58. These fingers are reinforced by means of the web portions 71 as illustrated clearly in Fig. 27.

The face plate 60 is provided with a centrally located aperture 72 through which extends the collar 73, and this collar 73 carries a ring 74 which is clearly illustrated in detail in Figs. 15, 16 and 17. The ring 74 comprises a pair of sections having interlocking end portions 75 through which end portions extend the clamping bolts 76 for clamping the sections of the ring to- A plurality of drag bolts 7 are carried by the rings 74, and these bolts are provided with heads 78 which heads are adapted to engage the filler blocks 69 are slidably mounted and cause the drum 79 to be pulled longitudinally of the shaft 5, in view of the fact that the collar 73 is integrally secured to the head plate 80 as is illustrated in Fig. 5. Attention is invited to Fig. 5 wherein it will be seen that the inner end of the shaft 5 is provided with a longitudinally extending bore 81,and this bore communicates with the interior of the drum 80 by means of the transversely extending feeding apertures 82 as illustrated in Fig. 5.

The shaft 5 is provided with a threaded portion intermediate its length upon which are mounted the threaded clamping rings 83 for firmly holdlng the pressure plate 84 in a set position upon the shaft 5.

The drum 79 is made up of three separate metallic sections 85, and each section is provided with a plurality of apertures 86 to allow the liquid to be forced out therethrough. Each of the sections is provided with laterally extending flanges 87, which flanges are firmly clamped together by means of pipe 27 A reservoir 98 the transversely extending bolts 88. A track channel 89 fits over each joint of the flanges 87 and constitutes a guide therefor. These channel portions 89 areprovided with projecting threaded ends 90 upon which are threaded nuts 91 for the purpose of firmly locking the pressure plate 84 in engagement with the channel portions 89. Bracing bands 92 are placed upon or around the drum 79, and these bands 92 are provided with bent ears 93, which ears are riveted to the channel portions 89 for bracing the channel portions 89.

A wire mesh screen 94 is placed upon the inner face of the drum 79 as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 18 in detail, and the wire mesh screen is clamped between the flanges 87 for firmly holding the wire mesh screen in a taut position in engagement with the inner face of the drum 79. 3

As is illustratedin Fig. 7, the frame 1 is provided with a plurality of troughs or discharge spouts or funnels 95 which areformed or placed directly below the path of travel of the main casing 58.

The feed pipe 27 above mentioned communicates with the bore 81 of the shaft 5, and this feed pipe also communicates with a vertically extending feed pipe 96 carrying a valve 97 for controlling the passage or flow of cooked masse cuite through the is supported upon the pipe 96, and this reservoir carries a valve 99 and funnel 100 for the purpose of facilitating :the feeding of masse cuite through the pipe 27. A flexible hose 101 is connected to the pressure plate 84 so as to communicate with the interior of the drum 79, and this flexible hose 101 passes over the rollers 102 and also communicates with a valve 103, and this valve is carried by a clean-out pipe 104, which pipe also communicates with the pipe 27 by means of the valve 105 for facilitating the cleaning out of the pipe 27 and also the drum 79 when so desired.

By carefully considering Fig. 5 it will be seen that the shaft 5 is provided with a threaded portion 106 intermediate its ends upon which is threaded a plurality of clamping rings 107 between which rings is secured a plunger 108, and it will be seen that as the shaft 5 rotates the centrifugal force will cause the liquid impurities to be thrown out into the outer casing 28 and be drained therefrom by means of the pipe 62. After the liquid impurities have in this manner been removed and the' drum is nearly full of dry sugar the clutch carried by the shaft 9 is thrown to an operative position and the pinion 64 is rotated for drawing the outer casing rearwardly. This movement will cause the heads 78 of the bolts 77 to be engaged by the blocks 69 and pull the drum 79 rearwardly to the position shown in Fig. 33 and force the dry sugar from the drum 79 into the discharge spouts 95.

It should be understood that the reservoir 98 has the same capacity as the drum 79 and that the device can be readily refilled when desired. The cooked masse cuite is placed. in the reservoir 98 and fed through the pipe 27-to the drum 79 where the impure liquid will be separated from the sugar by the centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the drum 79. After the impure liquid has been removed, the sugar may be removed by drawing the drum 7 9 to the position shown in Fig. 33.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is '1. sugar drying device comprising a f 'ame', a casing mounted upon said frame, a main driving shaft, a drum carried by said main driving shaft, a plunger keyed to said main driving shaft, means engaging said casing and drum for moving the same 1ongitudinally of said shaft, and a power shaft cooperating with said last mentioned means for actuating the same.

2. A sugar drying device comprising a frame, an outer casing slidably mounted upon said frame, a main driving-shaft extending in the direction of such sliding movement, said main driving shaft provided with'a longitudinally extending bore, said shaft provided with fill-mass discharge apertures communicating with said bore, a drum slidably mounted upon said shaft, a compression plunger head keyed to said shaft, and means for moving said outer casing and drum longitudinally of said shaft, whereby fill-mass contained within said drum may be forced from said drum.

A sugar drying device comprising a frame, a casing slidably mounted upon said frame. liquid discharge means carried by said casing, a main driving shaft extending in the direction of such sliding movement, means for delivering fill-mass through said main driving shaft, a drum mounted upon said main driving shaft. said main driy'ing shaft provided with means for discharging sugar into said drum, a drag device carried by said outer casing and adapted to move therewith. drag pins carried by said drum and passing through said drag device and provided with means for engaging said drag device. whereby said drum may be moved longitudinally of said shaft after said outer casing has moved a predetermined distance.

i. A sugar drying device comprising a frame,'an outer casing slidably mounted upon said frame. a main driving shaft carried by said frame extending in the direction of such sliding movement. a drag device carried bv said outer frame, a drum carried by said shaft, means for driving said shaft, drag pins carried by said drum memos and passing through said drag devices whereby said drum may be moved longitudinally of said shaft after said outer casing has been moved a predetermined distance, means for delivering liquid from said outer casing, and means for forcing sugar from said drum.

5. A sugar drying device com rising a frame, a track carried by said rame, an outer casing slidably mounted upon said track, a main driving shaft extending in the direction of such sliding movement, a plurality'of filler blocks slidably mounted upon said main driving shaft, projecting arms carried by said outer casing and secured to said filler blocks, a rotating drum positioned within said outer casing, drag pins connected to said drum and allowing said drum to rotate independently of said pins, and said drag pins adapted to engage said filler blocks for causing said drum to move longitudinally of said main driving shaft after said outer casing has moved a predetermined distance.

6. A sugar drying device comprising an outer casing, a main supporting shaft, a drum slidably mounted upon said main supporting shaft, a piston fixedly secured to said main supporting shaft, said drum provided with closed ends, said drum also comprising a plurality of segmental sections, and clamping means fitting over the adjacent ends of said sections for connecting said sections together and over the closed ends of said drum.

7. A sugar drying device comprising a main drive shaft,-a drum, a piston fixedly secured to said main driving shaft, said drum provided with closed ends, said drum also comprising a plurality of segmental sections having flanged end portions, sub stantially U-shaped clamping bars fitting over said flanged portions, means passing through said flanged portions for securing the same together, said clamping bars carried by one end of said drum and provided with projecting ends for connecting the opposite end of said drum to said clamping bars.

8. A sugar drying device comprising a main drive shaft, a drum, a piston fixedly secured to said main driving shaft, said drum provided with closed ends, said drum also comprising a plurality of segmental sections having flanged end portions, substantially U-shaped track bars fitting over said flanged portions, means passing through said flanged portions for securing the same together, said track bars provided with projecting ends forconnecting the same to one end of said drum, a wire mesh lining positioned within said drum and projecting between said flanges of said segmental sections, said segmental sections being perforated for permitting liquid to be forced from said drum, due to the centrifugal movement of said drum, and annular reinforcing bands positioned upon said drum and provided with inwardly bent ears .said outer casing longitudinally of said main frame, a main supporting shaft extending longitudinally of the frame, means for forcing fill-mass through a portion of said main supporting shaft, a

rotatably mounted drum carried by said main supporting shaft, means for rotating said main supporting shaft, said outer casing provided with a rack bar upon the lower face thereof, and driving means for engaging said rack bar for moving said outer casing longitudinally of said frame.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. FELINO VILLARREAL. Witnesses:

B. CARBo, Tmo LOUIS. 

